Metanexuksen konferenssi

Luonnontieteiden ja uskontojen vuoropuheluista kiinnostuneille tiedoksi:
Metanexus-instituutin järjestämän tuoreen "Continyity + Change" - konferenssin tuotoksia on nähtävillä täällä. Konferenssipapereista peräti 9 näyttää käsittelevän design-teemaa. Valitettavasti osasta esitelmistä ei ole esillä kuin tiivistelmä, ainakaan toistaiseksi. Ehkä mielenkiintoisimpana paperina tiivistelmän perusteella pidän jäljessä siteerattua tiivistelmää. Valitettavasti Samuelsonin koko esitelmä ei ollut ainakaan vielä luettavissa kokonaisuudessaan.



Norbert Samuelson

Chair, Jewish Studies
Department of Religious Studies, Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ, USA
Paper Title: Science and Intelligent Design
Sunday June 4, 2006 from 2:00 - 3:30 PM in Hall of Flags

Samuelson will deal with the following two sets of issues of intellectual history and Jewish philosophy that arise from the recent Dover case decisions: Set 1: Defining science in the light of evolution: What is "science" past and present? Ought government to have a role in answering this question? Why is Darwin's discussion of evolution generally recognized today as "science" while Michael Behe's is not? Is Dawkin's discussion of evolution "science"? The discussion will include a discussion of Newton's claim in the PRINCIPIA MATHEMETICA that his argument for gravity has no hypotheses. Set 2: Defining creation in the light of religious history: What makes creation creation? Does Plato's TIMAEUS offer a creation theory? What about Aristotle's ON THE HEAVENS? What does the Genesis account say about creation in the physical world? How open is the Genesis account to different interpretations? What should Jews, Christians, and Muslims believe about creation and why does it matter? Many but not all of these questions will receive answers, some of which are better than others. Why are some Christians (and these days some Jews and Muslims as well) as religious people upset with evolution? Why does contemporary Biology bother them more than any other science (especially astronomy, meteorology, and psychology)?

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Norbert M. Samuelson is the Harold and Jean Grossman Chair of Jewish Studies at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. He is an internationally renowned scholar of Jewish philosophy, the author of over 200 articles, and the co-editor of three collected volumes of essays.